Citing wrist injury, Ko skips Portland Classic

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — World No. 1 Ko Jin-young will miss the defense of her Portland Classic title this week with a wrist injury, but she hopes to return next month in South Korea.

"Jin-young is sitting out the next few weeks under medical advisement for 'an overworked wrist,'" said a statement from Ko's management team.

"She hopes to return at the BMW Ladies Championship."

That timetable would mean Ko will also miss defending her title at The Ascendant LPGA Tour event in Texas in two weeks but return for the BMW, where she is also the defending champion, in her homeland from 20 to 23 October.

Victory would put Ko in position to retain her title in the season-ending Tour Championship from 17 to 20 November at Naples, Florida.

Ko won last year's Portland title by four strokes from compatriot Lee5 Jeong-eun when storms trimmed the event to 54 holes.

This season, Ko won in March in Singapore and has three top-five finishes but she missed the cut in her two most recent events, the Women's British Open and Canadian Open.

After it was played last year at nearby Oregon Golf Club, the Portland Classic returns to long-time home course Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Portland is the longest-running non-major LPGA stop, having first been played in 1972.